The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-04-21

|, canoe alongside mine and took q balefnl
p1easufg IN botherihg me in every way he
.cofild. Wheli he came mlditasfline Of
vision that charupr merely nodded to him
lightly, as Il nothing Had happened out Of
|, the way-pelhaps it was an everyday
matter i. to her, that o poor little society
baby should roll ON, the ground and curse
horribly on her account. could not get
rid Of him tin I bethought me Of retalia-
ton, and having by q, skillfrl hoist under
the; stern Of his canoe given Tommy very
near to a ducking, that :malign youth
kept amore respectful distance, and only
tried to stfascinate" Idita with. his eyes
Thought of ma and my vile, padding.
The joke. wes dull as we approached
Turtle island again, so I slackened up and
Z edged away ton che fwthest boat on, the
wing, deaf to the call Of the commodore,
and as the line moved abreast Of the island
7 did my prettiest to set round the point
to the other side, there to land-there to
have Idita all to myse1ff Luckily, Tommy
was wedged into the line SO that he could
mot see the skulkerA and Ifhttered myself,
iaswe forged over dntol the esmooth Wat@
behind the point, that he had not detected
] or escape How to get Idita out Of the
4sippery canoe was the next thing that
nearly turned my hair gray; but it was
done we'll SNhough 'tis who sayit) at the
expense of one of-my feet soaked with salt
water. To feel her hand on my shoulder,
to 'haVe her weight fall on me when she
sprang from the tbig rock, are mere mat
ters Of, detail that recur to mo just now
with singular yividness, know not why,
unless we remember best the kindnesses
that we receive just before the final
breach. a15si .sil.4f,3 %
But the walk over hehnarrow grass
border and through the swinging walls Of
evergreen was thing to remember, too.
Idita's gay spirits were gone, and I
fancied that both of us were in the mood
of moods that runs. before decisive and
blissful speech. I. cannot say that had
made mp my mind to ask her to marry.
# you know Idita you will never think
! that; for what would be the good? Any
time during the preceding winter she
could have said, and it would have been.
Now also YVES it for her to speak, accord
ing to her own repeated declaration Of
rights. Besides, Isuppose my eyes. spoke
1dlE Saoe CukSl w aAoT uusn. popeSHf et1etf'
my Stongue... And .yet-could it be P9s-
sible that this girl, who was SO self assert
i've, who continually gave men the alter
native to do exactly, say exactly what
she willed or be cast into outer dark
ness and gnashing 4of teeth, that
this girl just to-day wanted me
to assert myself? I knew her theory
Of married life was closely similar to
her practice as o maid. She was; to rnle:
She was to fir much as she chose. Her
husband was TO ibe q slover, g favored
lover, but not be ugly in temper to those
less favored. Could it be her whim,
asked myself, to have me set it crudely
before her that I. had come hare to get her
promise and must have it? The risk Of a
false step was enormous just at that hour
and at that conjunction. Now and then
she would stop, look about her search
ingly, and appear to be listening. Il We
made for the steep side Of the island over
looking the bay and the village in order to
see the tlotilla pass once more (thank God,
without usD before the admiral's canoe.
'.Aren't you tired Of all that?" asked /,
nodding in the direction of Bar 7Harbor,
as we. seated ourselves under q ,stunted
CcudI WucIc, u11SCcu, NC Sou14 AoV0 eA0
whole bay. had placed myself as near
as DARED, and played with the yellow
silk tassel of the cap she had discarded
''Eh? What? Bar Harbor9 I think it
Is puffectly splendidp' cried; this exas-
perating young person.
ISnursed my knee and my thoughts.
That abstraction was real; it was not as
sumed. At such moment, in such O
place, in the company of hm9 such man,
to be distract was indeed symptom not
alarming merely, but crushing. My
throat went rather dry, and I think I
must have groaned q little, for she fixed
her glorious eyes full of a liquid brown
fire upon me, and asked if felt i'll!
"Yes,"I said, snappishly. 'I do feel
i'll. Talk to me, arause me, sing to me!
I have been padding you about you
might at least do something in turn"
She Strengthened herself up from q
lounging position and looked .at nle. care
fully.
WIN, WHY, you're as crazy as Tommy
We both laughed, and then entreated
her to sing. From being perfectly inf1enble,
she suddenly consented, as If a thought
had StrucR ner, anu HfeSenuy oue tntel du-
other efsthe songs that young people troll
at summer resorts pealed up among the
cedars Of Turtle island in an uncultivated
but rich contralto. Suddenly she stopped
short. se@ = ''.'''."
+ And over Tommy did go just as spoke
only It was; rather, that his canoe got
from under him and let him down. Like
ycu or ME. in such a case he tried to climb
on the bottom Of the canoe, which there
upon got from under him just as cleverly
as before; 1t is the way with canoes. This
thing occurred five or six times before we
realized that Tommy was very likely not
to climb any more if help was not given.
scrambled down the hill, and had got
half way when somebody dropped from
tree above an outlying rock, his straw
hat flying as he came, sprang into the
water, laid hold of the canoe, seized
Tommy by tho neck, and held him the
other side of the overturned craft until he
could get his breath. Then he began to
haul and swim toward the shallow, and